A dozen Redskins players joined the Redskins Charitable Foundation and Macy's to provide 300 underserved area school children with winter coats, hats and gloves as part of the annual "Covered for the Holidays" event on Tuesday.
Oshiomogho Atogwe, David Anderson, Terrence Austin, Brandon Banks, DeJon Gomes, Sean Locklear, Darrion Scott, Donte Stallworth, Logan Paulsen, Josh Wilson, Doug Worthington and Travon Bellamy were on hand for the event at the Macy's at Metro Center.
Even though it has been a mild fall so far this year, winter is right around the corner, and this is a gift that children need, but their families may not be able to afford.
"This is a great event," Anderson said. "Seeing the smile on these kids' faces when you give them something that they really need — that's really special."
"I think today is wonderful," agreed Atogwe. "This is the art of giving, and it's always a blessing to be able to share what you have with other and help them out."
Tui Roper is the principal for Burrville Elementary in Washington, D.C., and had 10 students at the event today. She said that the hardest part of bringing her students to this event was deciding which ones needed it the most.
"This is a great program," she said with a big smile. "Many of our students could use the help, so what we did is we looked for students who had had made strides since the beginning of the year. We used today as an incentive, as a reward for their hard work."
Roper noted that the students were excited for new coats, but the best part of their trip was finding the right with coat with the Redskins players.
"They were really excited to be here and were most excited to meet the Redskins players — the coats were secondary," she said with a laugh.
The coats were all different sizes, colors, and styles, and were provided by Macy's from Darron Fashions. The Redskins knit caps and gloves were provided for free from Aquarius LTD.
The Redskins also provided the students with a goodie bag with a book, a Macy's plush Smurf, and other Redskins memorabilia.
"This is a memory that these students will carry with them into adulthood," Roper said with a smile. "I don't expect any of these kids to forget that time that they were in the fourth grade and got a coat from the Washington Redskins."
